Biomedical subjects

Andrea Waylen

Publications and source records attributed to Andrea Waylen.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

An evaluation of the performance of the self-rating of the effects of alcohol questionnaire in 12- and 35-year-old subjects.

OBJECTIVE: A low level of response (LR) to alcohol was originally established through evidence of less alcohol-related change in several parameters at a given blood alcohol level. This is a genetically influenced phenotype associated with an increased risk for alcoholism. When measured by a retrospective questionnaire (the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol [SRE] scale), a lower LR (here indicated by a report that more drinks were historically needed for various effects) correlates with a family history of alcoholism and numerous alcohol use-related variables. The current analyses address the questions of how higher SRE scores (as indicators of a low LR) relate to alcohol use and problems across different age groups and when considered in the context of demography (e.g., age, gender, and weight), as well as the number of items endorsed on the questionnaire. METHOD: SRE data (scores and numbers of items endorsed), demography, and alcohol-related variables (quantity, frequency, and problems) were evaluated in two populations. The first population included 334 12-year-old children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, and the second included more than 400 35-year-old men from the San Diego Prospective Study. In each group, Pearson correlations were established among all variables, and items that were significantly linked to alcohol-related outcomes were entered into regression analyses as predictors of these outcomes. RESULTS: In both samples, SRE scores correlated with all alcohol-related outcomes, with the highest values for the maximum quantity of alcohol consumed. Relationships between the SRE score and alcohol-related variables remained robust in both populations when entered into regression analyses incorporating demography and the number of SRE items answered by subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The SRE score appears to perform relatively similarly across the two populations regarding relationships with alcohol quantity, frequency, and problems. The most consistent results were observed for the maximum quantity of alcohol consumed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Domestic violence risk during and after pregnancy: findings from a British longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to examine the rates of domestic violence reported during and after pregnancy and to assess the importance of family adversity. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: Bristol Avon, Southwest England. POPULATION: Seven thousand five hundred and ninety-one pregnant women with due dates between 1.4.91 and 31.12.92. METHODS: Questionnaires administered at 18 weeks of gestation and 8 weeks, 8 months, 21 months and 33 months postpartum. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The experience of emotional or physical cruelty by an intimate partner at each time point. RESULTS: Fewer women reported domestic violence victimization during pregnancy than they did postpartum (18 weeks of gestation: 1% physical cruelty, 4.8% emotional cruelty, 5.1% any victimization; 33 months postpartum: 2.9% physical, 10.8% emotional, 11% any victimization). Women who reported being victimized during pregnancy also reported significantly higher levels of social adversity during pregnancy. The number of social adversities reported during pregnancy also predicted postpartum victimization. Women who reported only one adversity during pregnancy were 2.73 (95% CI, 2.16-3.45) times more likely to report physical victimization at 33 months postpartum. Women who reported 5 adversities during pregnancy were 14.69 (95% CI, 7.35-29.37) times more likely to report such victimization at 33 months postpartum. For emotional cruelty, women who reported only one adversity during pregnancy were 2.10 (95% CI 1.80-2.46) times more likely to report emotional victimization at 33 months postpartum and 6.10 (95% CI 3.51-10.59) times more likely to report such victimization when five or more adversities were present during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Levels of social adversity reported in pregnancy are important predictors of concurrent and future victimization. Screening for social adversity factors could help identify women at high risk for future domestic violence.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Common visual defects and peer victimization in children.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether wearing glasses, having manifest strabismus, or having a history of wearing an eye patch predisposes preadolescent children to being victimized more frequently at school and whether the impact may be different on boys than on girls. METHODS: Data were examined on 6536 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) based in the United Kingdom. At 7.5 years, the children undertook a detailed eye examination by orthoptists, including a cover test and visual acuity assessment. At 8.5 years, trained psychologists assessed the children's bullying involvement as either victim or perpetrator for overt and relational bullying, in a standard interview. RESULTS: Children currently wearing glasses or with a history of wearing eye patches were 35% to 37% more likely to be victims of physical or verbal bullying, even after adjustment for social class and maternal education. No interactions were found between sex and visual problems in the prediction of bullying. CONCLUSIONS: For those children who require glasses, opticians should be aware of the risks of bullying, and strategies should be developed and discussed that help reduce their vulnerability.

Aggression↗

PubMed2005

Performance of a self-report measure of the level of response to alcohol in 12- to 13-year-old adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: A low level of response (LR) to alcohol characterizes groups at high risk for alcoholism and predicts future heavier drinking and alcohol-related problems. Because LR might change with increasing age and years of drinking, there is a need to measure this phenotype as early as possible in the drinking career. METHOD: Data were generated from 1,106 12- to 13-year-old subjects in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Information about alcohol and other substance use and problems was obtained using a structured interview, and LR from the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) questionnaire. RESULTS: Drinking was reported by 80 (7.3% of all subjects) boys and girls. Boys comprised 62.5% of the sample; the mean (SD) age of subjects was 12.9 (0.16) years. Among those 80 drinkers, alcohol had been consumed on an average of 5.4 occasions over the prior 6 months, the average maximum drinks ever imbibed was about 3.3, and 23.8% had any of 26 possible alcohol-related problems. In this group, 36.3% had smoked cigarettes, and 12.5% had used marijuana. The First 5 SRE score among drinkers correlated with the maximum number of drinks consumed at one time at .61 (p < .001), the number of alcohol problems at .25 (p < .01) and the frequency of drinking at .29 (p < .01). When considered along with smoking and marijuana histories, sex and weight, the SRE score contributed significantly to the prediction of maximum drinks per occasion (beta = .60, p < .001) and drinking frequency (beta = .24, p < .05), with a trend (beta = .17, p = .08) for alcohol problems. CONCLUSION: These results support the conclusion that a low LR to alcohol correlates well with the maximum number of drinks consumed even early in the drinking career among individuals for whom acquired tolerance or other factors were unlikely to have explained the relationship.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Sex 'n' drugs 'n' rock 'n' roll: the meaning and social consequences of pubertal timing.

This is a brief review of the normal changes in adolescent behaviour and the interplay between biology and social factors that occur at and around puberty, in an attempt to explain when this transition may become problematic The onset of puberty is a biological marker for an individual's transition from a non-reproductive to a reproductive state. Adolescence is a normal developmental transition associated with clearly visible physical changes, reorganization and pruning of neuronal circuits in the brain and the occurrence of new behaviours and interests. It is a time when new life tasks (orientation towards peers of the other sex, romantic and sexual involvement and mastering an educational career) need to be mastered. Parent-child conflict increases and becomes more intense as the adolescent struggles for more independence while still requiring support. These normal changes can become problematic if biological and social expectations diverge e.g. entering puberty very early or very late. While early pubertal onset in boys is likely to have beneficial effects, in girls precocious pubertal timing may have a negative impact on body-image, affect (or emotional well-being) and sex-role expectations. Other individual biological predispositions and genetic endowment may interact with social factors (e.g. peers, parenting style, neighbourhood) making adolescence either an adaptive or a challenging transition. There is a lack of sufficiently large longitudinal studies that have been able to study this interaction between genetics, biology and social environment on adolescent development. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort provides a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of pubertal timing on social behaviour. Planned assessments and concepts are outlined.

Adolescent↗